Trees and Brush Clearing in McDonough

Maybe you have been thinking about trees and brush clearing in McDonough and how overgrown land can be cleared without using chemicals. Sometimes, people tell stories about bulldozers coming to clear an opening in the woods for growing food but the moment the plot went through a fallow phase, the space left was quickly invaded by a number of invasive plants including poison ivy and plenty of tree seedlings from the adjoining forest. Clear space can easily go wild especially in garden soil which has been enriched. First come weeds and grasses followed by brambles and tree seedlings and finally shrubs bearing berries which are spread by birds. Many publications on property management will tell you how to use herbicides to restore order to a neglected patch of land but chemicals are not really a great solution. Besides, you can't get rid of well established perennial and woody plants at one go and it could take up to 2 or 3 years to clear the space of unwanted plants and restore the ability to grow vegetables.

When land is being cleared by hand, the first thing to tackle should be the woody trees and shrubs which can be dug up for pulled out if the trunks are less than 2 inches in diameter. First you have to use a very sharp spade to dig around the plant and get an idea of the roots. Then a sharp hatchet can be used to sever exposed roots and if the plant still cannot be pulled by hand, you can take some more poor use a device like a brush grubber to pull the plants out with the help of a vehicle such as a lawn tractor. No matter what you do, do not cut the wooded plants a few inches above ground where they can be a threat to human beings and lawn mower blades. If you cannot pull out a well-established tree, you should saw it off as close to the ground as possible. Using a drill, make several holes in the stump which should be filled with salt. The salt will help to kill the stump and eliminate problems from the roots which remain in the earth.

Brambles and wines are reasonably easy to handle if somewhat unpleasant though you should expect to see them try to make a return from pieces of root left behind in the soil. The most persistent plants are usually perennial weeds with tap roots such as thistles and effectively managing perennial weeds can take up to 3 years because in addition to removing living plants, you must also look for new seedlings which tend to be plentiful. Once unwanted plants have been removed, the next step is to plant a cover crop in the reclaimed space which is easy to control so that it rapidly forms a thick cover of vegetation. For example, you can use buckwheat in summer and mustard in the autumn. As soon as the first cover crop starts to show signs of

thinning, remove it and plant another one but prepare to be surprised by the number of weeks that have come back to life.